Category Archives: Sick Time

Oregon Passes New Sick Leave Laws
Oregon has officially passed a state-wide sick leave law. OregonLive. The new Oregon law is somewhat complex, but generally, if you work for an Oregon employer that has 10 or more employees, you are entitled to sick pay. SB 454. In some situations, the Oregon employer can have less than 10 employees and still be required by Oregon law to provide sick pay to its Oregon employees. Small Oregon employers not required to provide sick pay are still required to provide their Oregon employees with time off, unpaid, under the new sick leave laws. The amount of sick leave and/or sick pay depends upon polices of the Oregon employer or hours worked by the Oregon employee. The minimum amount is 1 hour of sick time or sick pay for each 30 hours the Oregon employee works. The sick leave law does not require an Oregon employer to pay the Oregon employee his/her accrued sick time at the end of employment. An Oregon employer who violates this law can be sued for the unpaid wages. If an Oregon employee is fired because he/she took sick leave, the employee can sue for wrongful termination. Should your employer fail and refuse to pay the sick pay, and the employment ends, likely the employee can seek penalty wages for the late payment of final wages. Penalty wages under Oregon law are calculated by multiplying the regular hourly rate (or if the Oregon employee is not paid by the hour, a calculated rate) by 8 hours per day for up to 30 days. For example, at $15 per hour, the maximum amount of Oregon penalty wages would equal $3,600. ($15 * 8 * 30).